Pattern mechanism for knitting machines



Nov. 23, 1954 R. H. LAWSON PATTERN MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES 4sheets-sheet 1 Filed April 1, 1952 ATTORNEYS Nov. 23, 1954 R. H. LAWSON2,694,908

PATTERN MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 1, 1952 4Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 8. 2'2 203 204 202 200 INVENTOR ROBERT H. LAWSONATTORNEYS Nov. 23, 1954 R. H. LAWSON PATTERN MECHANISM FOR KNITTINGMACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 1, 1952 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Nov.23, 1954 R. H. LAWSON 2,694,908

PATTERN MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES I Filed April 1, 1952 4Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. ROBERT H. LAWSON MJMZ' ATTORNE United StatesPatent ()fiice 2,694,998 Patented Nov. 23, 1954 PATTERN MECHANISM FORKNITTING MACHINES Robert H. Lawson, Lacouia, N. H., assignor to' Scott &Williams, Incorporated, Laconia, N. IL, a corporation of MassachusettsApplication April 1, 1952, Serial No. 279,827

11 Claims. (CI. 6650).

This invention relates to knitting machines and has particular referenceto pattern mechanism.

In the knitting of hosiery, it is frequently desirable to providethrough leg and instep portions of the hosiery overall patterns such asmesh and, at the same time, in the stocking provide other structural ordecorative features such as a high splice, double sole, and variousarrangements of clocks, mock seams, patterned shadow welts, or the like.

In accordance with the invention, and as will appear more fullyhereafter, there is provided a pattern mechanism which is capable ofeffecting elaborate control of stitch formation and, at the same time,is relatively simple in construction. When an overall pattern such as amesh is produced, it is generally desirable to use a trickwheel forcontrol of' the pattern, and in particular if it is desired that themesh should be uninterrupted at the times when the trickwheel isadvanced, it is necessary that the trickwheel should be advanced twicefor each revolution of the needle cylinder. This means that anytrickwheel of reasonable dimensions must make many revolutions duringthe production of a stocking. In contrast with the short cycle ofrepetition. of design of mesh or similar pattern, other structural ordecorative features such as a shaped high splice, double sole, clock orthe like must be made without repeat and in accordance with theinvention there is provided a secondary trickwheel which may be advancedfrom time to time as dictated by the primary wheel or auxiliary controlsto cancel portions of the overall pattern and substitute differentlyformed areas.

The general objects of the invention are concerned with the attainmentof the types of results just indicated and these and other objects willbecome apparent from the following description read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a development, looking outwardly, of the cams cooperatingwith needles and jacks in the needle cylinder of a knitting machineprovided in accordance with the invention, there being shown at theright-hand side of this figure a section of the needle cylinder togetherwith a needle, jacks and a sinker associated therewith;

Figure 2 is a plan view showing in particular controlling devices for apair of trickwheels and their associated elements;

Figure 3 is an enlargement of certain of the elements shown in Figure 2'for the purpose of more clearly indicating details, this figure being,in part, a section on the plane indicated at 33 in Figure 4;

Figure 4 is an'elevation of certain of the elements shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation of certain of the elements shown inFigures 2 and 3;

Figures 6 and 7 are diagrams showing a typical arrangement of jack buttsfor the formation of a mesh fabric and a shaped high splice; and

Figure 8 is a diagram of a typical stocking produced in accordance withthe invention.

Referring first to Figure 1, there is indicated therein a rotary needlecylinder 2 provided with slots 4 in which are located latch needles 6provided with butts 8 of difr ferent lengths in the usual fashion, theneedles which form the instep of the foot being provided with relativelylong butts, and the needles which form the sole being. provided withrelatively short butts, an example of which is illustrated in thereissue Patent No. 23,094 to H. N. Sheppard. Associated with each needleand located below it in its slot 4 is an intermediate jack 10 providedwith a butt 12. Below each intermediate jack and also located in thecylinder slot is a pattern jack 14 which is arranged to be tilted abouta fulcrum point indicated at 16. The lower end of each jack 14 isprovided with a butt 18 beneath which is a notch 20. Below this andlocated still further inwardly is a notch 22. As will appear hereafter,these notches 20 and 22 are arranged to engage and ride over cams. Eachof the jacks is provided below its fulcrum point 16 with a series ofpattern butts 24 which may be selectively removed to provide patterningselections. At its upper end each jack 14 is provided with a butt 26.

Sinkers 28 are interposed between the needles and are arranged ot beacted upon by conventional sinker cams which need not be specificallydescribed. The level of the sinker ledge over which stitches are drawnis indicated by the construction line 30.

The present machine is of single feed type, though it will be evidentthat the invention is equally applicable to multifeed machines. At thesingle feed of the machine herein detailed, there are provided yarnfeeding fingers 32, 34 and 35 which respectively feed the yarns 36, 33and 39. The yarn feeding fingers cooperate in usual fashion with athroat plate 37. As will appear in greater detail hereafter, the yarnfeeding fingers have difi'erent positions so that their yarns are takenselectively by the needles during operation of the machine.

The cams operating on needle butts include a forward stitch cam 40, acenter cam 42 and a reverse stitch cam 44. The usual provisions are madefor the formation of heels and toes involving conventional pickers whichare not illustrated. Cams 46 and 48 serve to raise the needles afterthey are depressed by the forward stitch cam 40, the cam 48 serving toraise the needles to a tuck level in which the lower ends of their openlatches are located below the sinker platform or ledge level 30.

The butts 12 of intermediate jacks 10 are depressed during operation byearns 50 and 52, and these intermediate jacks are levelled by a cam 54to position the pattern jacks for selection. The intermediate jacks areraised by the pattern jacks.

Arranged to act upon the butts 24 selectively are earns 56 which areprovided as the ends of levers hereafter moretfully described. The earns56 are arranged in a stack, there being one at each level correspondingto positions of the butts 24.

Immediately preceding the position of the cams 56 in respect tocounterclockwise rotations of the needle cylinder there is a cam 58arranged to act upon the butts 26 of the pattern jacks. As will appearhereafter, this cam 58 may be at desired times withdrawn by cams on theconventional main cam drum of the machine. A second cam 60 is alsoarranged to act upon butts 26 of the pattern jacks.

A cam 62 is provided with a sloping sharp edge 64 arranged to engagewithin notches 20 or 22 of the pattern jacks to raise these jacks whenthey are positioned for such engagement. Beyond the upper end of theedge 64, the cam 62 is cut away as indicated at 66 to permit the rockinginwardly of pattern jacks under the action of cam 67 on their butts 18.Beyond this cut-away region the cam 62 has a further rise in the form ofa sharp edge 68 engageabl'e within notches 20 of the pattern jacks.Beyond this the cam 62 is cut away or relieved at 70 to permitdepression of jacks and serving to rock them inwardly to avoid contactwith a subsequent cam.

A further cam 71 is provided with a sloping sharp edge 72 arranged toengage within notches 22 to raise jacks after their lower ends arerocked outwardly by cam 69. Cam 71 is relieved at 74 and there providedwith a cam surface which will permit the pattern jacks to be lowered andwill rock their lower ends inwardly. A pattern jack leveling cam isprovided at 76, this cam being arranged to engage notches 20 forpositioning of the jacks prior to reselection by earns 56.

Referring now particularly to Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, there are indicatedat 78 the levers, the ends of whichconstitute cams 56 for operating. onbutts 24 of the pattern jacks. These levers 78 are'stacked, withsuitable spacers, on a post 80 to position their cams at proper levels.Springs 82 trained over a post 84 serve to urge the levers 78 in acounterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 2. All of the levers 78may be simultaneously rocked clockwise by the action of a plate 86 ontheir ends 88, the plate 86 being carried by a lever 90 pivoted at 92and having a connection 94 to the main cam drum of the machine.

Associated individually with a lower group of the levers 78 are levers96 which are pivoted upon a post 98 and are provided with edge portions100 engageable with their associated levers 78. Each of the levers 96 isprovided with a follower portion 102 engageable with butts 104 carriedby elements mounted in a conventional trickwheel 106 which is mounted torotate on a post 107, the trickwheel carrying a ratchet 108 providedwith teeth 110, of which one tooth 110 is of less height than theremaining teeth and is provided for retiming.

Each of the levers 78 is provided with a cam follower portion 112arranged for engagement by the butts 114 of the elements carried by asecond trickwheel 116 which is mounted upon a post 117 for rotation, thetrickwheel being provided with a ratchet having teeth 118, there beingone low tooth 118' for retiming purposes.

A link 120 is arranged to be oscillated lengthwise by connection to alever operated by cams rotating with the needle cylinder. This lever andits cams are not shown but are of conventional type used for advancing atrickwheel two steps for each revolution of the needle cylinder. In thisconnection reference may be made to the patent to Houseman 2,264,977,dated December 2, 1941, which explains the utilization of double rackingof a trickwheel for each revolution of a needle cylinder to providepatterning which is uninterrupted at the time of trickwheel advance. Thelink 120 is connected to a lever 122 to which is pivoted a pawl 124 thehook end of which is held in engagement with teeth 118 of trickwheel 116by a spring 126 except when the pawl is held away from the teeth byguarding means hereafter described. The link 120 is also connected to asecond lever 128 to which is pivoted a pawl 130 the hook end of which isarranged to engage the teeth 110 to trickwheel 106 under the action ofspring 132.

A guard 134 pivoted on the post 107 is provided with an intermediatestep 136 and a high step 138 cooperating with the end of pawl 130. Thisguard 134 is connected through link 140 to the lever 90 and is urged toa clockwise position by a spring 142 so that during patterning the guardis entirely out of the path of pawl 130.

When the step 133 of the guard is in position to be en gaged by pawl130, the end of the pawl is lifted outwardly so as to miss all of theteeth 110 of the trickwheel. When the step 136 is in position to beengaged by the end of the pawl, the pawl end is held partly outwardly sothat while it will still engage the teeth 110 it will miss the low tooth110'.

A guard 144 generally similar to guard 134 is mounted on post 117 oftrickwheel 116. This guard 144 is also provided with a pair of steps 146and 148 cooperating with pawl 124 in the same fashion as the respectivesteps 136 and 138 cooperate with pawl 130. Additionally the guard 144 isprovided with a earn 150. A link 152 connects the guard 144 to afollower acted upon by the main cam drum of the machine. Mounted on thepin 98 which serves to support the levers 96 is a lever 154 locatedbelow the levers 96. This lever 154 is urged in a counterclockwisedirection by a spring 156 to bring a follower portion 157 intoengagement with the lowermost level of butts 104 on the elements intrickwheel 106. In the absence of a butt acting on the follower portion157 of this lever it is pulled by spring 156 to a position determined bya stop pin 158 carried by the machine frame and at such time a guard 160carried by the lever is positioned to be engaged in the path of pawl 124to prevent the pawl on its return movement from engaging a new tooth118. In other words, the guard 160, in the action of a butt on followerportion 157 of lever 154, causes an interruption of movement oftrickwheel 116 despite continued oscillation of pawl 124. On the otherhand, when the follower portion 157 is acted upon by a trickwheel butt,the guard 160 is withdrawn and pawl 124 may advance the trickwheel.

A block 162 carried by the lever 154 is engageable by the cam on guard144 so that when this guard is moved counterclockwise to a positionbringing step 146 into cooperation with pawl 124 the lever 154 will berocked clockwise to move guard out of operative position irrespective ofthe position which might be determined by butts on trickwheel 106. Suchaction also occurs if step 148 is moved into position for cooperationwith pawl 124, the block 162 having a surface which is approximatelyconcentric with the axis of trickwheel 116 for engagement by cam 150when the guard 144 is moved to its extreme counterclockwise position.

As will appear more clearly hereafter, the butts on the trickwheels 106and 116 serve to move, either through levers 96, or directly, the levers78 in a direction to remove their cams 56 from positions to act on jackbutts 24. As will appear, the pattern jacks have three alternativepositions, their lower ends being rocked fully outwardly, fullyinwardly, or to an intermediate position. The last two positions areattained under the action of springs 82 and are determined by stopdevices. These stop devices are particularly illustrated in Figure 5.Each of the levers 78 is provided at its upper end as viewed in Figure 2with a slot 164. The slots of the uppermost levers, i. e. those notassociated with levers 96, embrace a vertically extending projection 166of a member 167 which is secured in an adjusted horizontal positiondetermined by screws 170, in which position it is held by a clampingscrew 174 extending through an opening in the form of a slot in a fixedbracket 172. The lower levers 78 similarly have their slots 164embracing the vertical member 168 of an element 169 also positioned byscrews 170 and clamped in position by a screw 174 extending through aslot in bracket 172. As will be noted from Figure 5, the levers of theupper group are permitted to take a position further inwardly toward theaxis of the needle cylinder than the levers of the lower group, with theresult that when a jack is acted upon by a lever of the upper group itwill be rocked fully inwardly while, when acted upon by a lever of thelower group, it will attain an intermediate position.

The alternative needle paths determined by the jack selections will nowbe described.

Reference will first be made to the conditions achieved when no butt 24of a pattern jack is engaged by a selecting cam 56. This occurs when alllevers 78 at levels of butts on the pattern jack are rocked outwardly bybutts on one or both of the trick wheels. Considering the entrance of.the elements in the cylinder slots from the right-hand side of the camdevelopment in Figure 1, the needles will enter at tuck lever asdetermined by their previous rise over cam 48, the free ends of the openlatches being located below the sinker platform level 30. Theintermediate jacks 10 will have been positioned by cam 54, which cam incooperation with cam 76 also effects posit1on1ng of the pattern jacks.The fragmentary section at the right-hand end of Figure 1 shows theneedle and the acks positioned at these respective levels. Cam 58 actson butt 26 of each of the pattern jacks moving its upper end inwardlyand its lower end fully outwardly.

If, as has been assumed, the pattern jack is not acted upon by any ofearns 56, due to the absence of any butt 24 at a level of a cam 56 whichis in active position, the pattern jack will remain in its full outerposition so that its notch 22 will engage the edge 64 of cam 62 with there sult that the butt 18 will rise along the path indicated at 176. Therise of the jack will carry the intermediate jack with it, and towardthe completion of the rise of the intermediate jack will raise theneedle so that the needle hook follows the path at 178, the needle beingraised to clearing level with the free end of its latch located abovethe sinker platform level 30. A pattern jack, after reaching the top ofslope 64, moves horizontally and butt 18 will be engaged by cam 67 torock the lower end of the jack inwardly. The cut-away region at 66permits the projection at the outer side of notch 22 to move inwardly.The inner position of the lower end of the jack permits it to pass thecam edge 68 without engagement.

The intermediate jack 10 is next lowered by cam 50 and in turn depressesthe pattern jack which may move downwardly past the clearance 70 andthen moves horizontally. The depression of the pattern jack by theintermediate jack is insutficient to bring its butt 26 into alignmentwith cam 60, and accordingly its lower end remains in inner position soas to miss cam 72. Full depression of the pattern jack occurs as theintermediate jack 10 is further lowered by cam 52, and the pattern jackthen passes enemas horizontally, being levelled by the action of cam 76-on it and. the. action of cam 54 on. the" intermediatev jack.

Following the. rise. to clearing level at 178, the: needle moves.horizontally past cam 44 which is withdrawn and is then. depressedsuccessively by center cam 42 and stitch cam 40. Yarn fingers 32. and 35are at such elevated levels that their respective yarns 36 and 39 arenot engaged by the needle which. accordingly takes only the yarn 38. fedfrom. finger 34'. The needle is then raised to tuck'level by thesuccessive actions of cams 46 and. 48-.

There may next be. consideredv the conditions which arise when the lowerend of a pattern jack is rocked part way inward due to the action ofv acam 56 on a butt 24, the cam 56 being on one ofv the lower group oflevers 78 controlled by the. trickwheel-z 106' through follower levers96. This occurs when all of the upper group of levers 78 atv levels ofpattern jack butts are rocked. outwardly by butts on elements of trickwheel 116- but at least one. of the lower group of levers 78 at thelevel of a pattern jack butt is released by absence of corre spondingbutts on elements of both of the trick wheels. The entry of the elementsinto the right-hand end of the cam development is the same as before,but in this case the lower end of the pattern jack is rocked part wayinwardly so that the notch 22 will miss the edge 64 of cam 62v butnotch; 20 will engage this edge to be raised there- Butt 18 will nowrise along the path indicated at 180 which, it will be noted, is lowerthan the path 176. At the end of the rise the butt 18 is below the levelof cam 67 which is, accordingly, without action. passing cam 67 thenotch 20 engages cam edge 6S which raises. the pattern jack slightly andthen intermediate jack is lowered by cam 50 and this action lowers thepattern jack as before to a level which leaves its butt 26 above thelevel of cam 60. As. the pattern jack moves downwardly, its butt 18 isengaged by the relief portion 70 of cam 62 which causes the lower end.of the pattern jack to rock inwardly. The pattern jack and intermediatejack thereafter follow the same path as that previously described, thepattern jack missing the cam 71. The rise of the pattern jack andintermediate jack occasioned. by the cam edges 64 and 68 isinsu-flicient to cause the intermediate jack to engage the needle.Accordingly, the needle continues to move horizontally at tuck level andpasses below center cam 42 and is depressed by stitch cam 40 to takeyarn 38 but miss both yarns 36 and 39. The needle is then. returned totuck level by cams 46 and 48, the result being a formation of a tuckstitch.

Consideration may next. be given to theconditions arising when, by theaction of acam 56 on. a butt of a pattern jack the lower. end of thejack is rocked fully inwardly. This action occurs due to one of theupper group of levers 78, one of these at the level of abutt of thepattern. jack being released by absence of acorresponding butt on anelement of trick wheel 116.

The elements enter the cam development the same as previously but due tothe action of a. cam 56 as just men tioned the lower end of the patternjack completely misses the: cam 62, passing along the horizontal path182. The level at this time is sufficiently low so that the butt 26 willengage the cam 60 with. the result that the upper end of the jack isrocked inwardly and the lower end outwardly. The result is that notch 22will engage the edge 72 of cam 71 and the pattern jack will accordinglybe raised as indicated at 184 and the intermediate jack will becorrespondingly raised as indicated at 186. During the latter part ofthe rise the needle will be engaged by the intermediate jack and raisedalong path 188 which, it will be noted, rises above the level resultingfrom the rise at 178'. The latch is accordingly cleared but additionallythe needle is. raised to a sufficiently high level to. take yarn 36 as.well as yarn 38, though missing yarn 39, the former being taken as theneedle is depressed by center cam 42 and the latter as it is depressedby stitch cam 40. The reenforcing yarn 36 is thus additionallyincorporated. in the stitch. Following the drawing of a stitch theneedle is then raised to tuck level. by the successive actions of cams46 and 48. After the rise over cam 71 the pattern jack is lowered by theaction of cam 52 on the intermediate jack and the lower end of thepattern jack is: rocked inwardly by the cam action of the relief 74. Thepattern jack is then levelled as previously described.

Summarizing the above, it. will be noted: that three After alternativestitch formations are. provided:. in the first instance the: needle iscaused. to knit: main. yarn 38 but to miss. and float the reenforcing;yarn 36; in the second case the needle tricks the main yarn and again.misses andfioat-s the neon-forcing yarn; in the: third. case. the needleknits both the main yarn and the reenforcing yarn.

In the foregoing descriptions, cams 190- and 192 have been assumedeither withdrawn or absent. Assuming, however, that they are presentand. in action, and needle butts are assumed sutficiently long (thoughnormal short butts) to engage cam 190,. the. operations: previouslydescribed will only be modified to the extent that cam 190 will lowerthe needles which will then move horizontally to be raised by cam 194 totuck level, the butts passing beneath cam 192 without. engagementthere-by; As will-be evident, all selective actions. occur subsequent tothe cam 194,. so far as the needles are concerned, and accordingly thevarious selections: already described. are unchanged.

However, as more fully indicated hereafter, it. is sometimes desirableto introduce, generally on only a. few needles, an additional yarn whichmay be conveniently referred to: as. a. mock seam yarn, this. yarn being39 fed from finger 35;. The paths previously described involvedmovements of needles at such low level that the yarn 39 would not beseized.

In cases where: it is: desired to take the mock seam yarn 39, theneedles intended to take this yarn will be at the back of the stocking.and accordingly of the short butt series. However, these particularneedles will have extra short butts. When cams 190 and 192 are out ofaction, these needles will act the same as, the other short. buttneedles and will be subject to the same selections under the action ofcams 56. However, when it is desired that the mock seam yarn shall beknit, thev cams 190v and 192 are moved into action, the cam 190 beingmoved sufliciently inwardly to engage all needle. butts except theextrashort ones just mentioned while the earn 192 is; movedsnfiicientlyinwardly to engage the butts of the extra short length. Under theseconditions. all of the butts except the extra short ones will be engagedand lowered by earn 190 and. thus caused to move under cam 192. to belater: raised by cam 194 as: described. The extrashort butts, however,will miss cam 190 and will then be raised by cam 1921 along the path 196which will raise these needles to an extrav high clearing level at 198'.This level 198 is sufficiently high to cause the mock seam yarn to: betaken by these needles as they are lowered by center cant 4-2 andaccordingly these needles will take all. three of the yarns: 38, 36 and39. This action will occurirrespective of: the selections of jacksassociated with; the extra short butt needle. It will be evident thatthe: mock seam produced by such needles may be started and interruptedby control of cams 190 and 192 from the main cam drum of the machine.

The more general aspects of the selecting devices and of the formationof stockings may now be described with preliminary reference to atypical stocking illustrated in Figure 8. This stocking comprises a welt200 and a shadow weltv 202 followed by the. leg 204 during the formationof which patterning occurs to provide, for example, a mesh structure.For consistency of description it may be assumed that the mesh structureis of the type described in the patent to Page 2,501,353, dated March21, 1950, which mesh involves intermittent tucking according to; apredetermined pattern. In the stocking this mesh formation occurs notonly in the leg 204 but in the ankle portion 208 in front of a highsplice 206 andin the instep 214. The stocking may comprise additionallythe conventional heel 210, a so-called cradle sole 212, the advance toe216 and the toe 218. In particular it may be considered that the highsplice 206 and the cradle 212 involve the use of a reenforcing yarn andare shaped by tapering or otherwise.

The operation of the machine will be particularly evident if there isadditionally considered the arrangement of butts on the pattern jacks asindicated in Figures 6 and} 7', the former showing the arrangement ofbutts associated with long butt or instep needles while Figure 7 showsthe arrangement of butts on pattern jacks associated. with the shortbutt or sole needles.

, blackened rectanglesv indicate the butts which re main on the. jacks.The butts indicated at. 220' in Figure 6v and at 222 in; Figure 7provide control for the mesh pattern. It will be noted that these twogroups of butts are displaced lengthwise of the jacks and thisarrangement is adopted, as described in the Houseman patent previouslyreferred to, so that the pattern may be continued without interruptionabout the entire fabric despite intermittent advance of the trickwheel106. It is for this reason that the trickwheel 106 is advanced twiceduring each revolution of the needle cylinder, each advance effectingchanges of levers 96 which are not exerting control while retaining inposition the levers 96 which are exerting control.

The butts at 224 may be provided to differentiate alternate needles inthe production of the first courses of the stocking.

The arrangement of the jack butts at 226 provides for the erasing by theaction of trickwheel 116 of the pattern selections controlled bytrickwheel 106 and the inclusion of the reenforcing yarn for the highsplice and sole. The particular operations involved in connection withthese butts will be later described.

The sequence of the formation of the stocking shown in Figure 8 is asfollows:

At the beginning of the stocking, the trickwheels 106 and 16 will havebeen timed to initial position with the pawl guard surfaces 136 and 146in operative position to prevent, due to the low teeth 110 and 118', thepawls 130 and 124 from engaging new teeth to advance the wheels. At thistime lever 90 will be in a position to cause plate 86 to hold the levers78 in their inactive positions. Cams 58 and 60 will be held inactiveunder control from the main cam drum. Reverse stitch cam 44 will be inits active position in which it will effect clearing of the needles. Thereenforcing yarn 36 will be out of action to avoid its being taken dueto the rise of the needles over cam 44.

The top will then be knit in conventional fashion using a suitable yarnat the feed, the finger for such yarn not being indicated though it willbe understood that there are fingers carrying yarns in addition to thosepreviously described and particularly involved in the novel actions inthis machine.

A plain shadow welt may then be knit using another suitable yarn at thefeed. It will, of course, be understood that the machine may be of atype arranged to form a turned welt in conventional fashion, theformation of such welt involving no special cooperation with the devicesof the present invention.

After the formation of the shadow welt 202, the knitting of the leg 204with a mesh pattern is initiated. For this purpose, a suitable yarn 38is introduced, reverse stitch cam 44 is withdrawn, and rock out cams 58and 60 are put into action though the introduction of the latter may bedelayed, if desired, until the beginning of the knitting of the highsplice. Yarn 36 may be introduced though this also is not necessaryuntil the beginning of the knitting of the high splice. Lever 90 is nowreleased to release either some or all of the levers 78. At this time itreleases, in any event, the lower group of these levers which havecooperation with the levers 96 controlled by trickwheel 106. If thearrangement is such that the upper levers 78 are also released, theguard 144 is held in its timed position, in which case trick buttscooperating with the upper group of levers hold these levers inactive.The pawl guard 134 is withdrawn from cooperation with pawl 130 so thatracking commences.

Selections now take place in accordance with the first two selectiondescriptions above, the jacks being selected to full outer positions oftheir lower ends or to intermediate positions so that selective knittingand tucking occurs to provide the desired pattern such as that of thePage patent. While not specifically illustrated, the arrangement ofbutts on the trickwheel 106 acting on levers 96 will be obvious.

The foregoing types of operations then continue until it is desired tobegin the formation of the high splice 206. At such time reenforcingyarn 36 is lowered into feeding position and pawl guard 144 is Withdrawnfrom control of pawl 124 so that trickwheel 116 starts to rack asdictated by the trick butt arrangement of the lowest row in trickwheel106. As has been already indicated, the trickwheel 106 makes arelatively large number of complete revolutions during the formation ofa stocking, but through lever 154 this controls the intermittent advanceof trickwheel 116 as determined by the butts acting on follower 157 withthe result that the trickwheel 116 makes only a single revolution in theformation of each stocking. The intervals between advances may becontrolled from trickwheel 106 in any desired fashion to secure, forexample, the proper degree of tapering of the high splice and later ofthe cradle sole.

The function of the trickwheel 116 is essentially that of erasing ornegativing the selections made by trickwheel 106 with respect topredetermined needles. This may be understood by considering thattrickwheel 106 through levers 96 would control the cams 56 for theformation of the desired mesh pattern throughout the entirecircumference of the needle cylinder. The action of trickwheel 106 isessentially negative from the standpoint of butts. When a butt is absenton this trickwheel, the corresponding cam 56 is active and willcooperate with those butts 24 which exist on the pattern jacks, theeffect being the intermediate rocked position of the jacks. When buttsare present on this trickwheel the corresponding cams 56 will bewithdrawn and a particular jack will be in its full outer positionunless rocked part way inwardly by a particular cam 56 which is notacted upon by a trickwheel butt.

If, however, one of the levers of the upper group is released by itstrickwheel 16 so that its corresponding cam 56 moves inwardly, then anypattern jack having a butt 24 at the level of such cam 56 will be rockedfully inwardly with the resulting selection previously described whichwill cause clearing of the corresponding needle and the taking of boththe main and reenforcing yarns. The selections to take the main yarnonly or to produce tucking are thereby erased or nullified, thetrickwheel 116 effectively assuming an overriding control. Thisoverriding control involves the action of cams 56 on the butts 24 whichare indicated at 226 in Figures 6 and 7. The result is the formation ofa shaped reenforced high splice determined by these butts and theselection of cams 56 at the various levels. It will be evident that withparticular arrangements of the butts at 226 together with particulararrangements of the butts on trickwheel 116 a wide variety of highsplice configurations may be produced. At the same time the formation ofthe mesh pattern continues in the portion of the ankle in front of thehigh splice.

For the formation of the heel, the conditions previously describedinconnection with the formation of the welt and shadow welt arereestablished except that the portions 138 and 148 of the pawl guardsare moved into active position to interrupt advances of the trickwheels.The formation of the heel takes place in conventional fashion, thepickers, not shown, acting to control narrowing and widening duringreciprocatory knitting.

Following completion of the heel, the elements are again restored to thesame condition as during the formation of the high splice and the shapedreenforced sole 212 is produced while formation of the mesh patterncontinues through the instep 214. As will be evident, the butt formationat 226 on the pattern jacks in cooperation with a suitable setup ofbutts on trickwheel 116 will secure the desired shaping of the sole.

When the advanced toe 216 is started, the parts are again restored tothe conditions involved in the formation of the welts, the guards 134and 144 being moved to positions bringing steps 136 and 146 intocooperation with the pawls so that retiming takes place. This retimingmay continue during the formation of the toe in conventional fashion andneed not be completed until just prior to the time the trick wheels areagain required to become active after the next stocking has beenstarted.

It may be noted that where a yarn is included through less than half thecircumference of a product, as in the case of a mock seam, clock, or thehigh splice and double sole reenforcing yarn, there should be used atakeup of conventional type for maintaining the yarn under propercontrol.

While a particular stocking formation has been de scribed in detail, itwill be clear that the mechanism which has been described, merely byproper arrangements of trickwheel and pattern butts or by minormodifications, such as auxiliary controls from the main cam drum, may beused for the formation of many other types of products.

One arrangement which may be used to save steps of the auxiliarytrickwheel 116 would involve control in other parts of stockings thanthose indicated of the pawl guard 144 to interrupt racking of thistrickwheel despite the fact that control of lever 154 from trickwheel106 might dictate racking movetnents. Conversely, special racking stepsat predetermined times might be caused to occur by control of lever 154from the main earn drum to remove guard 160 from step-inhibiting action.Float stitch arrangements may be readily produced by involving otherthan solid areas for inclusion of an auxiliary yarn such as thereenforcingyarn already described. One special type of design which may,of course, be readily produced is that involving a so-called framed highsplice in which a reenforced high spliced area may be surrounded by areenforced band with spacings between them. Particular references tocertain other possibilities will make clear the wide range of variationsof stitch arrangements which may be produced.

One such arrangement, for example, would involve the formation of aclock surmounting a high splice, the clock being of the type describedin the patent to Thompson 2,563,082, dated August 7, 1951. A number ofthe rows of butts forming the group indicated at 226 in Figure 7 couldbe assigned to the formation of such a clock.

It is common practice to produce open work or other designs in a shadowwelt, and such designs may be produced by the formation of floatstitches. In such a case the butt setups could be provided to alternatebetween the stitch formation controlled by fully in and fully outselection of jacks. When the jacks were fully in two yarns would be knittogether while with the jacks fully out one of them would be :knit andthe other floated. It will, of course, be obvious that tuck stitchdesigns could be formed in the shadow welt in the same fashion asdescribedfor their formation .in the leg. In this and other arrangementsthe regions of effectiveness of the stop members 166 and 168 of Figure.5 could be changed to determine which of the levers 78 Would move theircams fully inwardly and which would move their cams only part wayinwardly. Furthermore, it is obvious lthatmore or less .of theintermediate levers '6 could be provided thus to distribute *thecontrols between the trickwheels 106 and 116.

It will also be evident that various areas of plain and tuck stitcheddesigns may be provided by suitable selections and arrangements ofbutts.

Plain areas in the high splice region, sole or other regions may beprovided merely by omission of reenforcing yarn in which case thealternative of having the jacks in fully inward position would involvethe erasure of designs and the knitting of plain fabric.

A mock seam may be produced stopping at the reenforcing above the heelby following the same proce dure indicated above for a clock. If,however, it is desired to run a mock seam through a high splice, theremay be utilized a pair or more of extra short butt needles incooperation with cams 190 and 192 along with the addition of the yarn39. Even more elaborately a clock of variable width formed under controlof butts of the group 226 in Figure 7 could be continued through a highsplice also controlled by such butts by providing the continuation onlythrough the use of a mock seam yarn such as 39 together with control ofextra short butt needles by cams 190 and 192.

In similar fashion a mock seam of uniform width could be provided abovea clock and as a continuation thereof without involving the necessity ofproviding additional controls from trickwheel 116. Such a mock seam maybe started and terminated to additionally form a plain clock stem,either above or extending through a high splice merely by introducingthe cams and the mock seam yarn where a seam is to begin and removing itwhen it is to end.

It may be noted that while as specifically described, a lever 78associated with an auxiliary lever 96 is generally controlled only bytrick wheel 106, (except for the mentioned possibility of using trickwheel 116 to achieve the same results a plate 86), various types ofcontrol may be secured by dual control of certain of levers 78 byactions of both trick wheels, with or without controls of groups oflevers by members such as 86.

It will be obvious that numerous possibilities are presented by the typeof mechanism which has been described.

What is claimed is:

1. Pattern mechanism for knitting machines comprising a first cyclicallyoperating pattern device, members controlled by said pattern device fordetermining selective operations of knittig instrumental-ides, meansimparting movement to said pattern device at each course of knitting, asecond cyclically operating pattern device controlling said members, andmeans controlled by the first pattern device for imparting step by stepmovements to the second pattern device, said second pattern devicecontrolling said members to nullify controlling ,actions thereof by thefirst pattern device.

2. Pattern mechanism for knitting machines comprising a first cyclicallyoperating pattern device, members controlled by said pattern device fordetermining selective operations of knitting instrnmentalities, meansimparting movement to said pattern device at each course of knitting, asecond cyclically operating pattern device controlling said members,means controlled by the first pattern device for imparting step by stepmovements to the second pattern device, and means controlling step bystep movements of the second pattern device independently of the firstpattern device.

3. Pattern mechanism for knitting machines comprising a first cyclicallyoperating pattern device, members controlled by said pattern device fordetermining selective operations of knitting instrumentalities, meansimparting movement to said pattern device at each course of knitting, asecond cyclically operating pattern device controlling said members,means controlled by .the .first pattern device for imparting step bystep movements to the second .pattern device, said second pattern.device controlling said members to nullify controlling-actions thereofby the first pattern device, .and means controlling step by stepmovements of the second pattern device independently of the firstpattern device.

4. Pattern mechanism for knitting machines comprising a first cyclicallyoperating ,pattern device, elements of one group acted .upon by saidpattern device, members controlled by said pattern device through saidelements for determining selective operations of :knittinginstrumentalities, means imparting movement t said pattern device ateach course of knitting, a second cyclically operating pattern device,elements of a second group acted upon by the second pattern device andthrough which the second pattern device additionally controls saidmembers, and means controlled by the first pattern device for impartingstep by step movements to the second pattern device, said second patterndevice controlling said members to nullify controlling actions thereofby the first pattern device.

5. Pattern mechanism for knitting machines comprising a first cyclicallyoperating pattern device, elements of one group acted upon by saidpattern device, members controlled by said pattern device through saidele ments for determining selective operations of knittinginstnimentalities, means imparting movement to said pattern device ateach course of knitting, a second cyclically operating pattern device,elements of a second group acted upon by the second pattern device andthrough which the second pattern device additionally controls saidmembers, and means controlled by the first pattern device for impartingstep by step movements to the second pattern device, the elements ofsaid two groups eifectmg different types of control of said members.

6. Pattern mechanism for knitting machines comprismg a first cyclicallyoperating pattern device, members controlled by said pattern device fordetermining selective operations of knitting instrumentalities, meansimparting movement to said pattern device at each course of knitting, asecond cyclically operating pattern device controlling said members,means controlled by the first pattern device for imparting step by stepmovements to the second pattern device, and means for independentlyretirning said pattern devices.

7. Pattern mechanism for knitting machines comprising a first cyclicallyoperating pattern device, elements of one group acted upon by saidpattern device, members controlled by said pattern device through saidelements for determining selective operations of knittinginstrumentalities, means imparting movement to said pattern device ateach course of knitting, a second cyclically operating pattern device,elements of a second group acted upon by the second pattern device andthrough which the second pattern device additionally controls saidmembers, means controlled by the first pattern device for imparting stepby step movements to 11 the second pattern device, and means forcontrolling at least some of said elements independently of control bysaid pattern devices.

8. A knitting machine comprising independent needles, elementscooperating with said needles for the formation of stitches, a firstcyclically operating pattern device, members controlled by said patterndevice for determining selective formation of stitches by said needles,means imparting movements to said pattern device at each course ofknitting, a second cyclically operating pattern device controlling saidmembers, and means controlled by the first pattern device for impartingstep by step movements to the second pattern device, one of said patterndevice controlling formation of two different types of stitches by theneedles, and the other of said pattern devices controlling formation oftwo different types of stitches by the needles, one of the firstmentioned types of stitches being different from both of the secondmentioned types.

9. A knitting machine comprising independent needles, elementscooperating with said needles for the formation of stitches, a firstcyclically operating pattern device, members controlled by said patterndevice for determining selective formation of stitches by said needles,means imparting movement to said pattern device at each course ofknitting, a second cyclically operating pattern device controlling saidmembers, means controlled by the first pattern device for imparting stepby step movements to the second pattern device, and means in addition tosaid pattern devices for controlling, during the formation of coursescontrolled by said pattern devices, the formation of stiches differingfrom those controlled by said pattern devices.

10. A knitting machine comprising independent needles, elementscooperating with said needles for the formation of stitches, a firstcyclically operating pattern device, members controlled by said patterndevice for determining selective formation of stitches by said needles,means imparting movement to said pattern device at each course ofknitting, a second cyclically operating pattern 4 device controllingsaid members, means controlled by the first pattern device for impartingstep by step move ments to the second pattern device, one of saidpattern devices controlling formation of two different types of stitchesby the needles, and the other of said pattern devices controllingformation of two different types of stitches by the needles, one of thefirst mentioned types of stitches being different from both of thesecond mentioned types, and means in addition to said pattern devicesfor controlling, during the formation of courses controlled by saidpattern devices, the formation of stitches differing from the stitchesof all of the aforementioned types.

11. A knitting machine comprising independent needles, elementscooperating with said needles for the formation of stitches, a firstcyclically operating pattern device, members controlled by said patterndevice for determining selective formation of stitches by said needles,means imparting movement to said pattern device at each course ofknitting, a second cyclically operating pattern device controlling saidmembers, means controlled by the first pattern device for imparting stepby step movements to the second pattern device, one of said patterndevices controlling formation of two different types of stitches by theneedles, and the other of said pattern devices controlling formation oftwo different types of stitches by the needles, one of the firstmentioned types of stitches being different from both of the secondmentioned types, and means in addition to said pattern devices forcontrolling, during the formation of courses controlled by said patterndevices, the formation of stitches differing from the stitches of all ofthe aforementioned types and overriding the controlling actions of saidpattern devices.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,016,055 Shelmire Oct. 1, 1935 2,063,026 Bristow Dec. 8, 19362,378,315 Minton June 12. 1945

